Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche on Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction

In the aftermath of Nepal’s worst ever natural disaster, which has claimed more than 8500 lives, everyone at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery is continuing to devote each and every waking hour to helping those in greatest need and praying for all who have suffered such unimaginable losses.

It is now more than a month since the first earthquake struck and we are still providing shelter for the many local families made homeless and have distributed tons of food, tents, tarpaulins and medicines to people living in the hardest hit districts. Our monks’ and nuns’ local knowledge and special scouting missions have allowed relief supplies to be directed where they are most needed, quickly and efficiently.

Earlier this week we launched the second phase of our relief efforts intended to provide more than one thousand families with corrugated roof sheeting to help build shelters before the monsoon rains hit next month. All of these efforts would not have been possible without the kindness and generosity of so many friends and supporters around the world and I would like to thank each and every one of you who have sent their best wishes and contributed financially.

With the monastery’s relief efforts now fully underway, and soon to be taken over by more specialized development agencies, the time has now come for us to reflect on our own circumstances. As you may know, many of buildings at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, Nagi Gompa Nunnery and neighboring Gelong Gompa were severely damaged during the earthquakes and must now be repaired or rebuilt. Among these, the great main temple at Ka-Nying monastery is severely damaged and must now be taken down.

While this will be extremely painful for everyone involved, it also presents us with an important opportunity. When the monastery was first built over forty years ago, we were all newly arrived refugees from Tibet and could not afford to buy high quality materials. Nor did we have experts on hand to guide us on earthquake resistant buildings. Now we have an opportunity to correct these shortcomings.

The main temple is where the Buddha’s teachings are housed and serves as the spiritual home for all those connected with our lineage. So many great masters blessed this building through their teachings, meditation instructions and empowerments. As a result, a vast number of people were helped at a deep personal level and we should all celebrate such a wonderful success. The temple did a truly excellent job! It’s rebuilding will take time, but it can be done, and we can now make it large enough to accommodate the ever g.rowing number of aspiring monks wishing to join he monastery.

Since the monastery is such an important center for Buddhism, we are now inviting all those with a sincere interest in Lord Buddha’s teachings to offer their assistance with our rebuilding efforts. If you are able to assist, please consider making a donation at www.shedrubfund.org. Working together, we will soon rebuild this precious Dharma seat – the source of so many blessings and profound activities! Thank you.

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Dear Friends and Sangha Members,
In the aftermath of Nepal’s worst ever natural disaster, which has claimed more than 8500 lives, everyone at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery is continuing to devote each and every waking hour to helping those in greatest need and praying for all who have suffered such unimaginable losses.
It is now more than a month since the first earthquake struck and we are still providing shelter for the many local families made homeless and have distributed tons of food, tents, tarpaulins and medicines to people living in the hardest hit districts. Our monks’ and nuns’ local knowledge and special scouting missions have allowed relief supplies to be directed where they are most needed, quickly and efficiently.
Earlier this week we launched the second phase of our relief efforts intended to provide more than one thousand families with corrugated roof sheeting to help build shelters before the monsoon rains hit next month. All of these efforts would not have been possible without the kindness and generosity of so many friends and supporters around the world and I would like to thank each and every one of you who have sent their best wishes and contributed financially.
With the monastery’s relief efforts now fully underway, and soon to be taken over by more specialized development agencies, the time has now come for us to reflect on our own circumstances. As you may know, many of buildings at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, Nagi Gompa Nunnery and neighboring Gelong Gompa were severely damaged during the earthquakes and must now be repaired or rebuilt. Among these, the great main temple at Ka-Nying monastery is severely damaged and must now be taken down.
While this will be extremely painful for everyone involved, it also presents us with an important opportunity. When the monastery was first built over forty years ago, we were all newly arrived refugees from Tibet and could not afford to buy high quality materials. Nor did we have experts on hand to guide us on earthquake resistant buildings. Now we have an opportunity to correct these shortcomings.
The main temple is where the Buddha’s teachings are housed and serves as the spiritual home for all those connected with our lineage. So many great masters blessed this building through their teachings, meditation instructions and empowerments. As a result, a vast number of people were helped at a deep personal level and we should all celebrate such a wonderful success. The temple did a truly excellent job! It's rebuilding will take time, but it can be done, and we can now make it large enough to accommodate the ever g.rowing number of aspiring monks wishing to join he monastery.
Since the monastery is such an important center for Buddhism, we are now inviting all those with a sincere interest in Lord Buddha’s teachings to offer their assistance with our rebuilding efforts. If you are able to assist, please consider making a donation at www.shedrubfund.org. Working together, we will soon rebuild this precious Dharma seat - the source of so many blessings and profound activities! Thank you.
With love and blessings,
Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche
If you have any questions about our relief efforts please contact Shenpen’s project officer Joseph Faria at earthquakerelief@shenpennepal.org.
For further information on the rebuilding of our monasteries and nunnery, please contact SDF’s secretary Greg Whiteside at reconstruct@shedrubfund.org